A Goodly Heritage

Those who was one of the strangest nights of our Lord's life. In the evening He sent the disciples out upon the sea alone. Then He went up into the mountain and spent the night with His Father. A storm came on, and the little boat was wildly tossed in the waves. From His place of prayer, Jesus kept His eye on His disciples. He saw them distressed in rowing, and around three in the morning, He came to them walking on the water. Then it was that Peter called to Jesus, "Bid me to come unto You upon the waters." It was just like Peter, loving and eager—but impetuous and rash. Still, the Master said "Come!" and instantly the disciple stepped out from the boat. While he kept his eye on his Master, he walked on the water as if it were a solid pavement. But for a moment he saw the waves, and at once began to sink. In his despair he cried, "Lord, save me!" and immediately Jesus reached out His hand and lifted him out of the waters. But while He was rescuing hi...

Pilate's was a most unenviable distinction. No doubt he felt honored when he was made procurator of Judea. But the honor brought him a responsibility which left him weighed and found lacking. Pilate did not know when he was roused so early that April morning, that that Friday was doomsday for him. He did not know when he was going through the various stages of the trial of Jesus, that he was making such a record of infamy for himself! He would better a thousand times have missed the honor of being the governor of Judea, and thus have escaped the making of the terrible mistake he made that day. Yet Pilate need not have failed so terribly. If he had been simply just, and had stood like a rock for what was right, the day would have become one of undying honor—and not one of everlasting obloquy for him. But the question with which Pilate met every crisis was not, "What is right?" but, "What will advance my interest?" He knew that Jesus was guilty of no wrong—he con...

It was Pilate's last appeal. He hoped that the spectacle of Jesus wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe would so move the people to pity, that they would cry out for His release. But the appeal was in vain. While the Holy Sufferer stands before us, we may think of Him as He appeared that moment. "Behold the man!" Recall His life. It had been beautiful in its sinlessness and in its revealings of God. In His trial, His enemies had sought to find some flaw in Him but they could find nothing. Pilate said, "I bring Him forth to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him." Witnesses could have been gathered from all over the land to testify to His kindness, His thoughtfulness, His mercy, His love but not one could they find anywhere to testify to any wrong He had ever done, any injustice, any injury. He had been the Friend of the poor, the Comforter of sorrow, the Helper of the weak. As He stands before us now, He appears as the man of sorrows. His ...

It was Pilate's last appeal. He hoped that the spectacle of Jesus wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe would so move the people to pity, that they would cry out for His release. But the appeal was in vain. While the Holy Sufferer stands before us, we may think of Him as He appeared that moment. "Behold the man!" Recall His life. It had been beautiful in its sinlessness and in its revealings of God. In His trial, His enemies had sought to find some flaw in Him but they could find nothing. Pilate said, "I bring Him forth to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him." Witnesses could have been gathered from all over the land to testify to His kindness, His thoughtfulness, His mercy, His love but not one could they find anywhere to testify to any wrong He had ever done, any injustice, any injury. He had been the Friend of the poor, the Comforter of sorrow, the Helper of the weak. As He stands before us now, He appears as the man of sorrows. His...

Pilate's was a most unenviable distinction. No doubt he felt honored when he was made procurator of Judea. But the honor brought him a responsibility which left him weighed and found lacking. Pilate did not know when he was roused so early that April morning, that that Friday was doomsday for him. He did not know when he was going through the various stages of the trial of Jesus, that he was making such a record of infamy for himself! He would better a thousand times have missed the honor of being the governor of Judea, and thus have escaped the making of the terrible mistake he made that day. Yet Pilate need not have failed so terribly. If he had been simply just, and had stood like a rock for what was right, the day would have become one of undying honor—and not one of everlasting obloquy for him. But the question with which Pilate met every crisis was not, "What is right?" but, "What will advance my interest?" He knew that Jesus was guilty of no wrong—he c...

Those who was one of the strangest nights of our Lord's life. In the evening He sent the disciples out upon the sea alone. Then He went up into the mountain and spent the night with His Father. A storm came on, and the little boat was wildly tossed in the waves. From His place of prayer, Jesus kept His eye on His disciples. He saw them distressed in rowing, and around three in the morning, He came to them walking on the water. Then it was that Peter called to Jesus, "Bid me to come unto You upon the waters." It was just like Peter, loving and eager—but impetuous and rash. Still, the Master said "Come!" and instantly the disciple stepped out from the boat. While he kept his eye on his Master, he walked on the water as if it were a solid pavement. But for a moment he saw the waves, and at once began to sink. In his despair he cried, "Lord, save me!" and immediately Jesus reached out His hand and lifted him out of the waters. But while He was rescuing ...

One of the saddest elements in the Gethsemane experience, was our Lord's disappointment in His disciples. He chose the three best loved of them all, and asked them to be near Him during His great agony. He hoped to get strength from their sympathy. While He went through His mysterious struggle, He supposed that they were praying near by. But when He returned to them to be helped by their love, they were asleep! This happened three times. His friends failed Him in His hour of sorest need. One of the legends of the Brittany peasants, tells how the robin got his red breast. The day of the Crucifixion, as Jesus was being led out to Calvary, a bird, pitying Him as He went on His way of sorrows, flew down and plucked one thorn from the crown of thorns He was wearing. The blood spurted from the wound and splashed the bird's breast. Ever since, the peasants say, the robin has had a spot of red upon its breast, in remembrance of its pity for the Master that day of sorrows. The discip...

It was Pilate's last appeal. He hoped that the spectacle of Jesus wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe would so move the people to pity, that they would cry out for His release. But the appeal was in vain. While the Holy Sufferer stands before us, we may think of Him as He appeared that moment. "Behold the man!" Recall His life. It had been beautiful in its sinlessness and in its revealings of God. In His trial, His enemies had sought to find some flaw in Him—but they could find nothing. Pilate said, "I bring Him forth to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him." Witnesses could have been gathered from all over the land to testify to His kindness, His thoughtfulness, His mercy, His love—but not one could they find anywhere to testify to any wrong He had ever done, any injustice, any injury. He had been the Friend of the poor, the Comforter of sorrow, the Helper of the weak. As He stands before us now, He appears as the man of sorrows. His ...

DUTY never is a haphazard thing; it does not come to us in 'bundles' from which we may choose what we like best. There are never a half dozen things, any one of which we may fitly do at any particular time; there is someone definite and particular thing in the divine purpose for each moment. In writing music no composer strews the notes along the staff just as they happen to fall on this line or that space; he sets them in harmonious order and succession, so that they will make sweet music when played or sung. The builder does not fling the stones and the beams into the edifice without plan; every block and every piece of wood, stone or iron, and every brick, has its place and the building rises in graceful beauty. The days are like the lines and spaces in the musical staff, and duties are the notes; each life is meant to be a perfect harmony, and in order to this—each single duty has its own proper place. One thing done out of its time and place—makes discord in the music ...

The necessity of daily prayer "But you, when you pray , go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret, will reward you openly." Matthew 6:6 In the Christian's devotional life, prayer has an essential place. The godly men of the Bible were all men of prayer . Jesus, who showed us in Himself the ideal Christian life — had regular habits of prayer. He who would live the Christian life well, must regularly commune with God! It is important, however, that we understand clearly what it is to pray . It is not enough that at stated times we go over certain forms of prayer. We only pray, when we speak to God what is in our heart as a desire, a longing, or a burden. Jesus teaches that we are to pray to God as our Father . We must come to Him, therefore, as His redeemed children — with the genuineness, ...

What place should prayer have in a Christian's life? Should we pray little or much? Should we confine our praying to certain days —Sundays, for example; or to certain hours or moments of our days—mornings, for example? Should we pray only about certain things , certain affairs , certain portions of our life? Are there things we have no permission to take to God in prayer? Should we pray only in certain places —in our accustomed room at home, or in places 'set apart for divine worship'? Is there any place, where we may not pray? There is a verse of Paul's which seems to answer all these questions. "Pray without ceasing." 1 Thessalonians 5:17. That means, pray always and everywhere. There is nothing we may not take to God in prayer—asking for His help. There is no hour of the day when we may not turn to God—and find Him ready to hear and bless us. The gates of prayer are never shut! To pray without ceasing—is to do everything with prayer. This does not mean...

No true wife will ever quarrel with the divine law that makes the husband the head of the household, if she has a husband who loves her up to the measure of the divine requirements for husbands—"Even as Christ also loved the Church." Such love never demands obedience, never demands anything; it seeks not to be served, but to serve. On the other hand, true love in a wife also lives to serve. Love always serves, or it is not love at all. The greatest in Christ's kingdom are those who serve the most unselfishly. Husband and wife vie with each other in loving and serving. They mutually bear each other's burdens. The husband is the head, but he never says so; never reminds his wife of it; never claims authority; and defers to her in everything. The wife recognizes her husband as head, honors him, looks up to him with esteem and confidence—all the more because he never demands subjection. Thus true love in husband and wife ...

Home is among the holiest of words. A true home is one of the most sacred of places. It is a sanctuary into which men flee from the world's perils and alarms. It is a resting-place to which at close of day the weary retire to gather new strength for the battle and toils of tomorrow. It is the place where love learns its lessons, where life is schooled into discipline and strength, where character is molded. Out of the homes of a community comes the life of the community, as a river from the thousand springs that gush out on the hillsides. We are all concerned in the making of some one home—our own home. One instrument out of tune in an orchestra mars the music which breaks upon the ears of the listeners. One discordant life in a household mars the perfectness of the music of love in the family. We should make sure that our life is not the one that is out of tune. We do not need to worry about the other lives; if each looks to his...

It was Pilate's last appeal. He hoped that the spectacle of Jesus wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe would so move the people to pity, that they would cry out for His release. But the appeal was in vain. While the Holy Sufferer stands before us, we may think of Him as He appeared that moment. "Behold the man!" Recall His life. It had been beautiful in its sinlessness and in its revealings of God. In His trial, His enemies had sought to find some flaw in Him—but they could find nothing. Pilate said, "I bring Him forth to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him." Witnesses could have been gathered from all over the land to testify to His kindness, His thoughtfulness, His mercy, His love—but not one could they find anywhere to testify to any wrong He had ever done, any injustice, any injury. He had been the Friend of the poor, the Comforter of sorrow, the Helper of the weak. As He stands before us now, He appears as the man of sorrows. His ...

This beatitude is not pronounced upon the poor in earthly condition; for one may be very poor and yet very proud, or one may be rich in worldly goods and yet be very lowly in spirit. Neither is it on the poor in mind; for mental poverty is not necessarily a state of blessedness, and ignorance is certainly not bliss, nor is it desirable. It is the poor in spirit, in disposition, on whom the beatitude is pronounced. That is, the lowly in heart, the humble, those who are conscious of unworthiness. Humility is not thinking meanly of one’s self, holding one’s gifts or abilities as of no account. We are under obligation to recognize our talents and make the fullest possible use of them. We are also to recognize our place and our privileges as God’s redeemed children, no longer condemned sinners and servile slaves. What, then, is humility? It is a spirit that bows reverently before God, and then holds its divinest gifts as not too good nor too fine to be used in Christ’s name in the servi...